Agencies and advertisers join forces to set social media standards

US-- More than 25 marketing agencies, brand advertisers and social media companies have joined forces to create the Social Media Advertising Council (Smac).

Smac aims to create a common vocabulary, standard buying units and measurement methods for marketing within social media.

Tom Gerace, CEO of social network Gather, Inc, has been named founding chairman of the association, which includes executives from firms including BzzAgent, Quantcast, Gartner, MediaVest Worldwide, Enfatico and Zinio in its managing committee.

Gerace said that the association had three key objectives: “We must create a common vocabulary. We must establish buying units that enable easier transactions in the marketplace and we must agree upon uniform measurement methods for social media. The industry will be better understood and will grow more rapidly if we succeed.”

Recent surveys have suggested that a lack of reliable measurement for social media is holding back its development as a marketing channel.

The association will spend the next few weeks “soliciting additional perspective” before holding a meeting in New York in November when it will give a clearer definition of its targets and establish a process of how it intends to achieve them.

Author: James Verrinder